BANGKOK: The longan plantation belonging to veteran farmer Manas To-iam is just kilometres away from Thailand’s largest water reservoir.
Across a small road from his trees, the Ping River drifts gently southward. Cows graze on long grass on its banks and local men spear fish in the shallows.
Even living so close to so much water does not guarantee Manas’ fruits will get what they need.
Like millions of farmers across Thailand’s central agricultural belt, an unpredictable climate is fundamentally changing his prospects on the land.
“Some years there’s drought and water isn’t good. When the water isn’t good, we cannot do our agricultural work,” he said.
“If the rains are good, then the farmers are happy because the cost will be reduced. We get water that is provided by the soil and the sky. If there’s no rain in that year, we will start to get stressed.”
Thailand plans to dam a branch of the Salween River to quench farmers’ insatiable thirst for water - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)
Across a small road from his trees, the Ping River drifts gently southward. Cows graze on long grass on its banks and local men spear fish in the shallows.
Even living so close to so much water does not guarantee Manas’ fruits will get what they need.
Like millions of farmers across Thailand’s central agricultural belt, an unpredictable climate is fundamentally changing his prospects on the land.
“Some years there’s drought and water isn’t good. When the water isn’t good, we cannot do our agricultural work,” he said.
“If the rains are good, then the farmers are happy because the cost will be reduced. We get water that is provided by the soil and the sky. If there’s no rain in that year, we will start to get stressed.”
Thailand plans to dam a branch of the Salween River to quench farmers’ insatiable thirst for water - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)
